Update: U.S. FLIGHTS TO ISRAEL HALTED BY FAA
About two hours ago, and in the aftermath of the public outcry regarding flights in conflict zones, first Delta then most other major international carriers announced they would suspend flights to Israel "until further notice" amid concerns that a rocket landed near Ben Gurion International Airport in Tel Aviv. The list of confirmed airlines that have halted such flights is shown below.
- US Airways also said it has canceled two flights to and from Tel Aviv from Philadelphia.
- United Airlines canceled two flights from Newark to Tel Aviv, according to FlightAware.com.
- American Airlines told NBC News that it is meeting to discuss the situation.
- Lufthansa said there are no changes to its Tel Aviv flight schedules for now.
- British Airways said it continued to operate as normal but is monitoring the situation.
- KLM said it was meeting to discuss the issue.
According to NBC [6], "the move comes amid heightened concerns over the safety of passenger aircraft flying over war zones. A Malaysian Air Lines jet with 298 aboard was brought down as it was flying over contested Ukrainian territory. The White House said the Federal Aviation Administration has not issued any notices about flights over the Middle East. Israeli police spokesman Micky Rosenfeld told NBC News there is no event to the best of his knowledge taking place now at Ben Gurion. He said he believes the Delta cancellation probably came after a rocket fell 3 miles from the airport earlier Tuesday."
The flight redirection is shown most vividly in the following flight pattern of Delta flight 468 from New York to Tel Aviv (via Flightradar24 [7]) which was rerouted shortly before arrival and landed in Paris instead.
[8]
Meanwhile Israel says there is nothing to fear. From Bloomberg:
After US Air and Delta cancel flights scheduled to land in Israeli airport this evening, Transport Minister Israel Katz says Ben-Gurion safe for landings and take-offs, according to Aviation Authority. No concern for safety of planes or passengers.
For now, however, nobody is taking chances with another MH17 tragedy.
